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There’s been much discussion in the bookshop of late about the way in which we read.

For instance: Do you use bookmarks, or steadfastly dog-ear your page? I admitted to the girls that I dog-ear each and every time. They said it was odd for a person who sells books to fold the corners of a page because wasn’t I marring an already secondhand book? But you see, I don’t think like that. Books are tangible, magical to me – it’s almost as if they each have a soul, so turning the page down is like communication with the novel itself…Batty, aren’t I?

Another question was: Do you stop reading when the mood strikes or do you always finish religiously at the end of a chapter? Or once you start goodbye eight hours of sleep, there’s no stopping until the book is finished? I think it depends on the book, the genre, and the length. When I read novellas, I like to do so in one sitting. There’s something about the size and style of novellas that leads them to be devoured, almost as if they’re a quick fiction fix that leaves you satisfied. One customer said she must finish on an even numbered page, another said, whenever her eyelids started to droop, it was time to close the book no matter where on the page she was.

Do you read only one book at a time? Or have a few on the go? I’m a multi-reader. I have books at home, purely for night-time reading, and books at the shop. My favorites, I take home, and like old friends, reread them when I need something to perk me up.

Do you buy books based on the cover alone, or subscribe to the notion to never judge a book by its cover? I believe books murmur to a person, whether you know it or not, and that a book selects it’s reader and not the other way around…though I mustn’t tell you all my secrets, or you’ll truly think my dusty little bookshop has warped my mind!

Is there a particular place you read? Only at night in bed? Or in the car waiting at school pick-up? In the garden in Summer under the shade of a Linden tree?

2 thoughts on “How do you read?”

People usually hate me when I say this, but I dog-ear the pages, except when I’m using my Kindle, of course. I have a million and one bookmarks but I’ve never found the need to use them. I love dog-earing. Later on in life, when I flick through all of my beautiful books that I have read and spot those dog-ears, it’ll be like evidence that I went on that particular adventure. That once, many years ago, my fingers danced across the pages, followed the words and I had ‘been there’. I also sound a little wacky, don’t I? 😉

My night time reading always happens when I get into bed. I read for as long as I possibly can before my eyes start to get droopy and I can’t focus any more. Usually, the next day I’ll re-read those last few pages because in those sleepy moments, what I’ve read rarely sticks with me and I don’t have a clue what’s going on.

I can only read a single book at any time. I once found an image on the net somewhere that said, “I can’t read more than one book at a time. I feel like I’m having an affair.” I guess that’s kinda’ how I feel, as silly as it sounds. I like to give my full, undivided attention to the book that I’m reading at the time, and I also get confused rather easily, so the characters and plot from each book would soon start to become tangled up and I’d just end up in a big old mess by the end of it! No, I’m a one book type of girl.

I hate to say this, but the cover of a book plays a big role for me. I LOVE to look at things, especially pretty things that catch your eye and make you sigh. Beautiful covers make all the difference, I think. But that’s just me.

Most of my reading does take place at night in bed, but I do read now and again during the day when I have chance. For some reason, reading in the day really doesn’t have the same effect on me as reading during the night. I switch all the lights off, turn the TV off, move my phone away from me so I’m not tempted to stay on it all night, and I completely lose myself to whatever it is that I’m reading. Reading in the dark, with the built-in light from my Kindle glowing, is my idea of perfect. Nothing, NOTHING, can beat it!

This is why I love you, Becca… we’re on the same page, so to speak! To dog-ear is an expression of Book Love as well you know! It’s interesting to hear you’re a one woman book lover! And I think we all judge a book by it’s cover, even if we don’t always admit it! You have to come and visit us at The Bookshop on the Corner, Becca! We have a chaise out the back with a beautiful view of the roses outside, and it’s warm from the soft sunlight that streams in… 🙂